The Light
by wickedbrickroad
Summary: Drabbles chronicling Chuck and Sarah's relationship. Spoilers for all five seasons. C/S.
1. Season One

**Title**: The Light**  
>Authors<strong>: **wickedbrickroad**, aka **brickroad16** and **wickedinsanity**!**  
>Rating<strong>: PG/K+**  
>CharactersPairing**: Chuck/Sarah, (eventually, a small dose of) Ellie**  
>Spoilers<strong>: Yes, big time for all five seasons, especially the series finale.**  
>Summary<strong>: Drabbles chronicling Chuck and Sarah's relationship.**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: We don't own anything. We're merely showing our love and appreciation for a show that touched our lives for five glorious years.**  
>AN**: Drabbles for seasons two through five to follow, with a fanmix to come this weekend.

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><p><strong>Season 1 <strong>

"_Echo" – Jason Walker – Chuck _

It's amazing really, how fast everything can change. In the blink of an eye, everything you knew to be true can be turned upside down.

Sometimes, Chuck wonders if this was all just a dream.

Sometimes, when he looks back on how his life had changed, he wonders if he wasn't all alone in the world.

Two months ago, he and Ellie talked about everything. There was no one in this world he was closer to than his sister. Now, well, things were different now.

Two months ago, Morgan was his best friend whom he counted on for everything. Now, time spent with his little bearded friend was dwindling to nothing.

Funny, how fast everything you think you know can change.

Sometimes, he feels as if he were all alone - a shadow in a dark and ominous world. A fool stuck in a world he knew nothing about. No matter how much he yelled, only the echo of his voice returned to him.

And then sometimes, in the darkest part of the night, he sees another shadow. He thinks it's _her_. Feels it deep in his bones.

He hopes the echoes reach her, hopes that maybe one day he'll have someone to get through this with.

Sometimes, he wishes for a whisper, if only she could give him that. An echo of hope in this world of shadows.

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><p>"<em>The Only Exception" – Paramore – Sarah <em>

Love never lasts.

That's what she learned from her parents, isn't it? She was so young when she watched their marriage fall apart, and she's carried that weight ever since. No kid deserves that, not even one who turns out to be a spy, hardened and cynical.

Spying was simply a way of focusing her loneliness, telling herself she was content with it.

Because she'd never met anyone worth the risk.

So here, barely four months into her new assignment, she tells herself that Chuck Bartowski is _not_ her guy, even though what she feels for him – what she feels even if she swears she'll never speak it aloud – that goes so far beyond what she's thought of as love up to this moment. It's deeper, somehow more real, makes her want to believe.

But there's no fighting the truth.

He could be the one to change her mind.


	2. Season Two

**Season 2**

"_Staring At It" – Safetysuit – Chuck _

He's never been a fighter, but he thinks that's because he's never before had a reason to fight. She's everything he's never dreamed of, and yet everything that somehow makes him strive to be more than he's ever been. She draws out the courage, the strength, that he never knew he had.

He's made mistakes, too many to look back on without a sense of shame suffusing him, but she's the only love – the only true, intricate, intimate love – he's ever known, the only one he wants to fight for.

And yet she won't take the chance on them. He doesn't understand why, when happiness is so close, within their reach, if only they could make the decision to stop walking away from each other. The future they've been longing for is close enough to touch. And he'll wait, and he'll fight, until she's ready to do the same.

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><p>"<em>Arms" – Christina Perri – Sarah <em>

Sarah Walker never thought she'd find a place that felt like home again. But then Chuck Bartowski had walked into her life and the world tilted on its axis.

It was funny, she thought, how quickly everything could change.

The first time he held her in his arms, it felt as if the world were coming down around them. _(And not because the bomb that sat six feet away was ticking away their final seconds.)_

The second time he pulled her close, she knew she'd never let him go if given a choice. _(Even if it confirmed every suspicion Roan Montgomery had about their relationship.)_

Maybe it was because somewhere along the way she had gained a family. Not just Chuck - but Ellie and Awesome, and even Morgan too. These people had opened up their hearts and their homes to her as if she were one of their own.

As she stood there, taking in the way she looked in her bridesmaid dress, Sarah realized that somewhere along the way she had changed. This past year and a half with Chuck had made her a better person. _He_ had made her a better person.

And no matter what happened after today - no matter how their future changed - she knew that as long as she was in his arms, she would be safe.

In his arms, she would be home.


	3. Season Three

**A/N:** Reviews are always nice. :)

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><p><strong>Season 3<strong>

"_Run" – Matt Nathanson, ft. Sugarland – Chuck _

Six months, and he still can't get her out of his head. Easy to believe, since one of the last times they'd spent together was a lush, devastating morning in Barstow that somehow proved too much for either of them. Too much for her stoicism. Too much for his self-doubt.

He still remembers the way she'd washed over him, crashing down on and covering him until he was shivering and shuddering, until he could barely breathe. The very memory buckles his knees.

Now she's here, in front of him, the fire in her eyes telling him that the burn, the ache, in his heart is so, so wrong. The world's exploding beneath his feet, and he's still running in her direction. Because he's so much better at her side. They're amazing together. And, however long it takes, he's going to make her see that.

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><p>"<em>One and Only" – Adele – Sarah <em>

She never expected things to turn out this way. Never in a million years had she thought that it would come to this.

Maybe she should have known - after all, nothing about her life with Chuck had ever been easy. Even at the start there had been this push and pull between them. As if they were destined to dance around each other forever. Maybe it had started with Bryce, maybe with Lou. There would always be a simpler choice.

She liked to think that they were finally ready to face the tougher choice - together.

Deep down, Sarah Walker was ready to be his. Chuck's one and only.

No matter what obstacles they faced, no matter what ghost from their past resurfaced - whether Bryce or Jill - they had overcome. And they were still here. Together.

And maybe she should have seen it sooner. Maybe it would have saved them both a lot of pain and heartache. She could deny it no more, though. She knew now that she was meant to be in his arms.

And here, now, she would dare him to let her prove it, that she is and forever will be, his one and only.


	4. Season Four

**Season 4 **

"_Lifening" – Snow Patrol – Chuck _

He wakes up in her arms, sunlight streaming through the blinds, warming his heart. She shifts, rests a hand against his cheek, murmurs a joke into the pillow, and then their laughter mingles in the morning air.

This is his life now. The woman he loves, his _wife_, beside him, an Intersect-less future to look forward to. Kids one day. Not too soon, maybe. They'll need time to sort out Volkoff's gift, but once they get their private spy company up and running, he can see toddlers with Sarah's smile and his crop of curls running through the house. Because they will have a house, a white one, with that red door she wants so much, and a picket fence. And a dog. And a big yard, so they can spend their days being _parents_, teaching them how to ride bikes, and how to write code, and giving them an extra cookie or two before dinner, no matter if it spoils their appetites.

Smiling, he nuzzles his nose against her neck, breathing in the scent of her grapefruit shampoo.

This is all he's ever wanted from life.

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><p>"<em>You In the End" – Matt Hires – Sarah <em>

For so long, she'd lived her life always on the move. And then she'd come to Burbank, California and found a home. A place that brought her peace, and comfort. Safety. Here - in this place, with these people - she had found safety from the world she lived in.

After everything they'd been through, this family - _her family_ - had survived.

And as she sat here, surrounded by the people that mattered most to her, she knew then that everything would be okay.

This wasn't the end. They were just getting started. Of that she was sure.

The light of a new day would soon be upon them. A new beginning. _Their_ beginning.

Tomorrow would come soon enough. But for now, wrapped in her husband's arms, she was content to let the world fade around them.

_"I've never had a way with words. And I think the fact that I wanted to even speak right now shocked Chuck and Ellie more than they ever let on. But I've decided that today is the start of a new chapter. My whole life. I've always thought of myself as a traveler. Until I found this amazing family. They took me in, accepted me with open arms into their homes, and their hearts, and I can never express how thankful I am for each of them._

"_Ellie, you are extraordinary. And I wish I could put into words what it means to me that I'll have someone like you for a sister._

"_And Chuck. I've tried for so long to find the rights to express what it is that I feel for you. But what I've come to realize is, there are no words for it. All I know is that all I need, is you in the end."_


	5. Season Five

**A/N: **It's been wild and wonderful, guys. Please review if you get a moment. Fanmix to follow tomorrow. :)

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><p><strong>Season 5<strong>

"_On Your Side" – Thriving Ivory – Chuck _

He still remembers sitting on this beach the night of their very first date, real or not. Whatever she had thought of it, it'd been real to him, so much that he can remember the way she'd smelled that night, like grapefruit and danger and the salt of the sea.

Maybe they don't know where to go from here. Maybe she'll come home with him, and he'll sleep on the couch to give her some space, to not pressure her. But maybe she'll let him sleep beside her, like they've done for so long now, limbs tangled with limbs, his feet keeping hers warm. Maybe she'll remember the way his embrace feels. Maybe she'll remember that.

And maybe he's putting his heart on the line again, but he'd put his heart on the line time and again for her, because she's the only thing that's ever been right in his life. They've faced a thousand maybes before. They've risked and they've loved and they've survived _together_. From now on, he'll prove to her every day that he's on her side, always will be.

They can live forever if only they love hard enough.

"Chuck," she murmurs into his shoulder.

"Hmm?" He resists the urge to stroke her hair, but her hand catches his, her fingers lazily intertwining with his, sending his heart racing.

"Let's go home."

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><p>"<em>The End of the World" – Ingrid Michaelson – Sarah<em>

Everything hurt.

Everything inside of her - heart, body, and soul - _hurt_. She was breaking, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She never expected it to end like _this_. She didn't _want_ it to end like this. But as every memory she had ever cherished was ripped from her mind, and from her heart, she knew that there was nothing left to do. She only hoped that one day, somehow, Chuck would find her. _Her_. The Sarah Walker who knew him. Who loved him.

No matter what happened after Quinn was done with her, Sarah Walker-Bartowski would love her husband until the very end.

She could only hope that, at the end of their world, Chuck would find her. As the world they knew crumbled down around her, she could only hope they'd be together.

In the end, it wasn't a magical kiss. There was no sudden rush of memories. No overwhelming flood of emotions.

But, sitting here - next to this man who claimed to love her, who claimed she loved him - she felt a peace she had never known before.

"You know Sarah, we don't expect you to suddenly remember everything you felt for us. We just - _I_ just - want you to know that you can trust us. No matter what's happened - no matter how you feel about us - we'll go to the end of the world for you."

She doesn't know why, but something sparks at his words.

Maybe they'll be all right, after all.

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><p>"<em>HeadsTails" – Hotspur – Chuck_

"Let's go somewhere," he murmurs, nose buried in her neck.

She's not ready for every aspect of their old relationship, but she lets him hold her like he used to, and when he breathes in the mingled scents of her perfume and spring fresh laundry detergent from the sheets, his heart tells him this is good.

"What?" she chuckles, turning to him with a smile.

"You may not recall, but your husband's a rich man now. And he likes making you happy. So where do you want to go?"

She rolls her shoulder in a graceful shrug. "Well, I don't know. Where do _you_ want to go?"

He pushes himself up onto an elbow. He likes how her hair glows in the morning sunlight. "We could go to Rio. We went to a crazy Mardi Gras party there last year. Or Costa Gravas is a favorite. Casey's the Premier's favorite, but he'll probably let us use his villa. Or Paris. That's never going to be a bad place for us."

Blowing her breath out in a sigh, she rests her hand on his, thumb running over his knuckles. "Okay, but what about someplace new, somewhere we've never been before?"

He smiles. "Sounds good." He pulls out his phone and scoots closer so they can look for a new place on the map, a new place to start making memories.

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><p>"<em>Mine" – Taylor Swift – Sarah<em>

Lying on the couch in his arms, she has a hard time believing this is real. She'd expected a goodbye, because that's what happens when things in her life get too hard. The people she let herself get close to leave. But even in a few days, she's realizes that Chuck Bartowski, her _husband_, is so much different than anyone else she's known. He's never going to leave her alone.

They don't have this figured out at all, but they're taking it on together, in each other's arms. He was the one to take all her fears and make her rebel against everything she's been taught since the age of five, and he's the only one who can do that again.

She doesn't remember everything that he remembers, but she remembers that night they were sitting by the water, when he put his arm around her for the first time, kissed her for the first time, made her believe for the first time.

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><p>"<em>You Won't Feel a Thing" – The Script – Chuck <em>

He's been through a lot, not just in the last five years, but in his life. He's been teased and bullied, been laughed at, been betrayed, had his dreams crushed, had his heart broken a time or two. He knows what it's like to go through life with scars and bruises, regrets and pain.

He doesn't want that for his wife, especially not when he knows the kind of life she's led before, always keeping everything locked up inside, always on the lookout for unfaithfulness and deceit. She deserves happiness, the purest form. If only he can turn this into a fresh start, if only he can convince her that they're worth it.

Trouble has always had a particular way of finding them, but even if the world falls down, he's never going to let her go, never going to let her be hurt again. And now, when she's been hurt beyond belief, he'll do whatever it takes. He won't stop until she comes back to him.

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><p>"<em>The Light" – Sarah Bareilles – Sarah<em>

Her heart reaches out for him, as if it wants to pull him close and hold onto him forever. He fills her up as they kiss, breathing love into her body, banishing the person she once was, the girl who would run from the slightest allusion to love, that unattainable feeling.

None of that, nothing that came before seems to matter that much anymore. Whatever may come crashing down on them, it's just him. Only him. For always.

If he told her at this moment, as his lips brush against hers, that everything was going to be all right, that their lives were going to be full of goodness and happiness, she would believe him completely. Because looking into his eyes, she knows she trusts him. She knows she'll walk, hand laced in his, confidently into their joined future.

The storm may have come, may have tried to wash away what they'd built, but they've weathered tempests before. He is her sun after the clouds have passed, and an emotion as powerful and sweeping and grand as love isn't easily forgotten.

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><p>"<em>Just a Kiss"- Lady Antebellum <em>

Ellie, after buckling up Clara in the car seat, stands up to beckon to Chuck. Devon's already behind the wheel of the moving van. She'll be following in the Sienna, with Chuck switching between the two vehicles for the 30-hour drive. The thought would put a bad taste in her mouth if this weren't her family starting off on a new adventure.

She only wishes Chuck and Sarah could share it. As it is, it's really nice of her brother to help them with such a big move. But she hates the prospect of leaving him alone. Not alone, because he'll always have Sarah of course, but it's different now. She wishes she knew, 100 percent for certain, that they would be okay.

As she turns around to call to him, she stops, shutting her mouth abruptly. He and Sarah are standing in the archway leading to the apartment complex, their arms wrapped around each other. Their faces are inches apart, and they're staring into one another's eyes, as if nothing else in the world even exists. Only them. Sarah leans forward to nip at his lips, and Chuck smiles into the kisses. He murmurs something, low and soft and probably sweet, because Sarah, a languid, happy smile gracing her lips, rests her head against his chest for a moment as he runs his thumb along the base of her neck.

Ellie suddenly feels that she has no right to witness this, as if she's intruding on something very personal and intimate, so she turns and gets into the driver's seat, waiting patiently for her brother. Fingertips tapping against the steering wheel, she can't help the grin that springs to her face. She's always had a fondness for Sarah, since that fateful night Chuck brought her over for a disastrous dinner more than four years ago. She's always known Sarah saw something special in her brother, and yes, maybe it took them a long while to get their act together, but they've been through hell and back together now.

They're going to be okay. After that moment she just observed, she really believes that.

Chuck climbs into the car a minute or two later, smiling broadly. "Ready?" he asks, clapping his palms on his thighs.

She nods. "Yep. I'm sorry to take you away from Sarah for a few days."

"It's fine, Ellie, really. Sarah and I, we have all the time in the world."

Ellie wants to reach over and squeeze his hand, but instead, she simply starts up the car and says with a smile, "Yes, you do."


End file.
